Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez hits an RBI double in the sixth inning during Game 2 of the ALCS on Oct. 13, 2013, in Boston. / Associated Press

Written by

Matt Pelc

Detroit Free Press Special Writer

Matt Pelc is editor for the Detroit Tigers blog Motor City Bengals. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. Read his columns here most Tuesdays.

One of the biggest announcements that came out of baseball’s annual winter meetings last month was the movement to eliminate home plate collisions. Baseball is taking a proactive approach to eliminating something that has always been a part of the game. While they are changing history, one other adjustment that should be made is to finally make the designated hitter universal.

If you’re totally up in arms about the sport getting rid of a runner going at full speed and plowing into a stationary catcher with minimal protection, then perhaps the sport of baseball is not for you. I can’t remember the last time I sat down to watch a game thinking, “Boy, I really hope there is a home plate collision tonight!” OK, well maybe I thought that during a Tigers-White Sox game when A.J. Pierzynski was catching.

All joking aside, baseball is not a sport designed for vicious hits. Home plate collisions are relatively rare, but they do happen. The Tigers’ Alex Avila may have suffered a concussion in last fall’s ALCS, San Francisco’s Buster Posey missed nearly an entire year from a vicious collision a few years back, and, going way back, Pete Rose plowed into Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star Game, causing Fosse’s promising career to never be the same.

So if we’re changing long-standing rules for logical reasons, perhaps it’s time to change another.

Should we keep the designated hitter like it is, kill it altogether, or implement it throughout the sport? Growing up a fan in an American League city, it should come as no surprise that I am in favor of implementing it throughout baseball, however the arguments from National League cities, who love seeing an automatic out every ninth hitter, are starting to become antiquated.

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The DH, or a variation on the rule, dates back to 1906 when legendary manager Connie Mack proposed the notion. NL president John Heydler nearly convinced the eight senior circuit teams to adopt the rule in 1929, but it fell apart at the last minute.

At that time, the AL had no interest in a DH. It wasn’t until 40 years later when Detroit’s Denny McLain and St. Louis’ Bob Gibson had astonishing pitching performances in 1968 (and Carl Yastrzemski led the AL with just a .301 average) that the league began establishing a designated hitter, ultimately implementing it in 1973.

For decades, Major League Baseball consisted of two separate business entities: the AL and NL. Each had their own president and operating system, including separate rules for the DH. This ended in 1999 when the leagues were folded into MLB and the president position was demoted to merely an honorary title.

The leagues had regularly been playing each other in interleague play for five years by this time, with the DH utilized in AL parks, and the pitcher hitting in NL parks. This is how it works for the World Series, too, but both teams used the DH regardless of home field in even numbered years from 1976 to 1984. This is why if you watch replays of games from the Tigers’ last championship, the 1984 World Series, you’ll notice each team using the DH in San Diego and Detroit.

Using the DH differently during interleague play was an uneasy, yet workable option when those games were bunched in clusters throughout May, June and July. Last year the Houston Astros moved to the AL and evened up the number of teams in each league. This required at least one interleague matchup every day of the season.

That caused teams like the Tigers to cry foul because they would have to conclude their season in Miami without the DH. Had they not clinched the division before that last weekend, they would have been at a disadvantage because their AL Central rivals were all able to use the DH.

As it turned out, it was a good thing Detroit had clinched prior to that series in Miami. They were swept by the Marlins, couldn’t score any runs, were no-hit in the regular season finale, and finished only a game ahead of the Cleveland Indians.

The National League argument to keep the DH out of their league is now antiquated. Baseball does not consist of two separate entities anymore. The leagues regularly play each other, so all the rules need to be uniform. The players’ union would never approve of dropping the DH throughout the sport because it would take away a job from aging players that no longer have defensive range.

There is only one clear outcome here. Hopefully baseball realizes it soon.